1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hot air balloons and the burner systems for hot air balloons. More particularly, the present invention relates to the structure of hot air balloon burner systems and the controls to operate hot air balloon burner systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hot air balloons have been in existence for hundreds of years. Hot air balloons utilize balloons that are filled with hot air. As the air in the balloon is heated, air in the balloon becomes less dense than the air surrounding the balloon and lift is created. By connecting a passenger basket to the balloon, the lift from the balloon can be used to lift the passenger basket and its occupants into the air.
Early hot air balloons used fires on the ground to heat the air in the balloon. However, a modern hot air balloon carries fuel and burners, so that the air in the balloon can be selectively and repeatedly heated during flight. In this manner, the lift created by the hot air in the balloon can be controlled in a much more precise manner.
In a modern passenger hot air balloon, the balloon itself is made of a strong, light weight synthetic material. Below the balloon is tethered a passenger basket. Between the passenger basket and the bottom of the balloon is located a burner assembly. The burner assembly is coupled to a fuel source, usually propane, that is coupled to the exterior of the passenger basket. The pilot in the balloon controls the burner assembly by using the burner assembly to produce a flame for a desired duration. When the pilot activates the burner assembly, fuel is ignited and the burning fuel is directed upwardly into the balloon. The burning fuel increases the temperature of the air in the balloon, thus controlling the lift provided by the balloon.
The material used in the manufacture of a modern balloon is so thin that, at night, the burning of the fuel into the balloon can be seen through the material of the balloon. As such, as fuel is burned within the balloon, the balloon becomes internally illuminated.
The internal illumination of large hot air balloons is aesthetically pleasing because it makes the balloon glow internally and become highly visible at night. It is for this reason that during some hot air balloon rallies, balloons are tethered to the ground at night. The balloons are then purposely illuminated with their burners for no other reason than to make the balloons visible. Often multiple balloons are tethered to the ground side-by-side and the balloons are illuminated sequentially. The lighting of the balloons is often attempted to be choreographed to music that is broadcast to spectators observing the hot air balloons.
In the prior art, a pilot illuminates his/her balloon by igniting the primary burner assembly in a short burst. Primary hot air balloon burners are designed to heat the air in the balloon as efficiently as possible. The primary burners are not designed to produce as bright a flame as possible. As a result, when a pilot illuminates his/her balloon he/she wastes a great amount of expensive fuel trying to achieve a high degree of illumination. Additionally, the lift provided by the balloon changes as the air in the balloon heats up from the attempts at illumination. If a pilot is trying to illuminate his/her balloon in synchronization with a piece of music, the pilot of the balloon must listen to the broadcast music and time the activation of the burner assembly to illuminate the balloon at the right times. This is not an easy feat and many times the attempts to illuminate a hot air balloon falls out of synchronization with the broadcast music. The more hot air balloons that are to be illuminated, the greater the degree of error and the more likely it is that the illuminating of the balloons will fall out of synchronization with the corresponding music.
A need therefore exists for a way to better illuminate a balloon without wasting excess fuel. A need also exists for a better system to control the illumination of a hot air balloon so that the illumination of the balloon can be better choreographed to music. These needs are met by the present invention as it is described and claimed below.
The present invention is a system and method for illuminating hot air balloons. The In a first embodiment, the system includes a secondary burner assembly that mounts to the primary burner assemblies within each of the hot air balloons. The secondary burner assemblies are designed to produce highly visible and luminescent flames that internally illuminate the hot air balloon without wasting large amounts of fuel. The secondary burner assemblies are installed in a plurality of hot air balloons. The hot air balloons can either be tethered to the ground or in flight. Each of the secondary burner assemblies is controlled by a single central controller. The central controller is located in one of the hot air balloons or at a point remote to all the hot air balloons.
The central controller can activate the various secondary burner assemblies in a predetermined sequence. Alternatively, the central controller can utilize a user interface so that a person can selectively control the activation of the various secondary burner assemblies through the central controller.
In a secondary embodiment, a secondary burner assembly is not used. Rather, a central controller is coupled to the existing primary burner assembly of the balloon and the primary burner assembly is ignited in a synchronized manner from the location of the central controller.